Blackout

The end of 2008 has been a trying time for people in Laie. We barely had the flood waters under control and people were ripping out carpeting and removing water wrecked furniture and other belongings when the lights went out. The day after Christmas there was a little lightning and it hit a couple of power poles and unbalanced the whole power transmission grid. The entire island of Oahu was suddenly powerless for about 24 hours.

There were a couple of interesting things during that blackout time. Our Stake had planned an after Christmas dance (actually two, one for adults one for youth) to replace the New Year's Eve dance activity this year. The food had been prepared and the decorating done when the power went down. We went over just to see what was going on instead. The adult activity looked like a soup kitchen with people sitting around eating the refreshments of clam chowder, homemade rolls, chocolate fountain (no power made it a dipping experience instead) and other good stuff. Lots of talk but no music. Battery powered boom boxes were not loud enough in the gym. It was a really fun camp-like get together.

The other interesting things was that Friday and Saturday when the power was down were the last two days that the temple was going to be open for the next 18 months because of renovation. A lot of couples had planned to have their weddings on Saturday. The temple generator worked a while on Friday to complete the in-progress session but then it too went down. Twenty-one weddings were conducted on Saturday by flashlight. Now that would be a memorable wedding, I suppose.

Even when the power came back there were a few remaining issues. Tim's office only came half back on. The side of the room with his refrigerator did not come back and we didn't know that until he lost his Lean Cuisines and other frozen lunches. Fortunately, Amber and Sandi gave him about 10 Indonesian homemade meals for lunches for a Christmas gift and they were in our home freezer. The other problem was that the blackout had burned out the Internet routing switch to our building and several others in the townhouses so we couldn't get online for a few extra days.

Lucky for us, the Hawaiian style of "no worries living on the beach" helped everybody get through these natural disasters coupled with the holidays. A little aloha helped us all get along.

'Twas the Birthday of the King

A couple of years ago as I sat pondering the children's Christmas song "'Twas The Birthday of A King" I was struck by how amazing it is that as we celebrate the King's birthday, He would be so generous as to let us remember Him by exchanging gifts with each other. Any earthly King would certainly expect lavish and expensive gifts and only to himself. People would work all year just to have gifts that were presentable to the King. They would travel from the far corners of the kingdom just to be present to bow before the king and give their gift. Now our Heavenly King wants us to commemorate His day by remembering and caring for each other. Of course He wants us to live righteously and keep His commandments, but that is not for some self aggrandizement, but rather for our own happiness. We can trust Him to always have our best interests at the focus of everything He does for us.

Gingerbread Extraordinaire

Gingerbread houses are one of the signs of Christmas. Those edible little buildings, that most people have such a hard time getting to stand upright and hold their load of candy, were the subject of our visit to Honolulu yesterday. At the Sheraton's Princess Kauilani Hotel in Waikiki, Chef Ralf Bauer has created a wonderland in gingerbread. He used 60 pounds of dark chocolate, 20 pounds of white chocolate, 30 sheets of gingerbread, and 120 gallons of icing to build a village that covers one side of the hotel's lobby with magic. It took him 250 hours to put this masterpiece together, but it certainly puts all my humble efforts with this art form to shame. Included in the village are a couple of small working trains, a carousel, and a sky ride with little electric lights and plenty of snowy landscaping all around. Topaz, our grandson, was totally fascinated watching the creation in operation. So was I. By the way, that's Chef Bauer with me in the picture.

GCB is Ruined

Oahu has been inundated with rain lately. Mayor Mufi Hanneman estimates the damage as at least 2.7 million dollars. Since Amber's blog published pictures of the flooding right here in Laie, I thought I would update you on the damage in one particular place. The GCB, general classroom building, is the headquarters for the School of Computing and Mathematics at BYUH. It also now houses offices for the school of Business. Your Dad's office is in this building. The entire building is a mess and all the carpeting is a total loss. Your Dad spent a number of hours after the rain cleaning the carpet in his office and one lab in order to do a final exam at 7:00 A.M. After all that, the Dean came in and said that he felt the area was too dangerous to have students come in. Your Dad finally told students that he would trust them to take their finals wherever they could find a computer to do it on, dorms, library, etc. and they were on their honor not to cheat. As all the carpeting was ripped up throughout the building, the custodial staff unplugged your Dad's little office refrigerator and left it unplugged overnight. Fortunately he went in early enough to discover that mistake before his Lean Cuisines all thawed out and he lost his lunches. Books and papers that were stored anywhere on the floor were lost, but most of the computers were on little shelves under the desks in the labs and so were undamaged. Special troughs that had recently been put in to hold the wiring however were filled with mud and water. It will take a few weeks to get this building so it can be functional again. The first two pictures are your Dad's office specifically and the third and fourth are labs. Of course there was other damage on campus but this is the closest to home for us. Rain has continued, although it is slowing. Streets in Laie are piled high with ruined belongings from residents in the area. Everyone is awaiting insurance adjusters before these things can be hauled off. Our ward, Laie 6th, was the most devastated in the Stake and so as you can imagine everyone has been doing laundry, taking in meals, and general cleanup for their neighbors.

I am the Bunny

While you may wish you were the Bunny, I am the Bunny- the energizer bunny , and I will keep going and going and going.

My recovery from surgery is progressing rapidly and later this week they'll let me drive again. I'm adjusting to life with a pacemaker and have learned some things, or at least I hope I have.
1. I can't control everything and I should quit trying, relax, let God help, and enjoy the journey.
2. People really do care. Put a sling on your arm for a few days and suddenly people offer to carry things, open doors, etc. Meals were brought in and phone calls were received. Love, concern, and support abounded all around.
3. I really only have one body and I ought to try a little harder to take care of it. Medical advancements are amazing, but natural good health should not be squandered.
4. I already knew God loved me, but once again He has confirmed it. I am awed by Him.

(note: Sorry-that whole "wish you were the bunny" reference is an inside family joke)